Nanopharm, a contract research and development company focusing on orally inhaled and nasally delivered drug products (OINDP) and Leyden Labs, a company targeting commonalities of viral families, have entered into an agreement to develop nasal sprays aimed to provide broad protection against respiratory viruses.
Leyden Labs’ platform targets commonalities of viral families with the aim of developing candidates to protect against many strains of a virus simultaneously with a single product. Its nasal spray product candidates may allow people to protect themselves against infection and transmission.
Nanopharm will screen and subsequently develop a liquid nasal spray formulation, including performance testing and nasal deposition studies, to prepare Leyden Labs for Phase I clinical studies. Formulation approaches using muco-adhesive technologies will be part of the development process to try to achieve maximum deposition and retention in the nasal cavity. A powder system may also be assessed in parallel for long-term stability.
“Leyden Labs is taking a really exciting approach to finding solutions for the broad-spectrum prophylactic protection against respiratory viruses,” said Jag Shur, CEO of Nanopharm. “Their platform and portfolio of product candidates show real promise, and we are proud to be a part of its development to fast-track its approach towards the clinic, utilising our fundamental scientific understanding of OINDPs and our knowledge of how to expedite product development.”
Guillaume Brouet, VP Analytical, Regulatory and Scientific Affairs at Aptar Pharma added: “We are pleased to support Leyden Labs in this important development, which reinforces the Aptar Pharma Services mission to further help customers during their entire drug development journey and deliver them a complete solution.”
Koenraad Wiedhaup, CEO of Leyden Labs, said: “Nanopharm’s team has the world-leading expertise needed to understand and develop safe, effective formulations targeting respiratory viruses. This partnership enables us to efficiently bring our product candidates to people in need of better protection against new pandemics and seasonal outbreaks like those caused by influenza and coronaviruses. We look forward to continuing to work with Nanopharm in the future to further develop additional product candidates and swiftly advance them into the clinic.”
All formulation development will be performed at Nanopharm’s facility in Newport, United Kingdom, which houses its R&D laboratories for formulation and characterisation of inhaled and nasal products.